I have had some good Diagnostic help an have been told that I'm laying my elbow back way too far. Which more then likely is the cause of my pain. I need to spend more time on the grass with someone watching. My wife can do this I just need to tell her what to look for. I had her watching me up untel it turned off cold. Now she is not very interested in going out side.

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This will only work if your wife knows how to teach this form of casting.

... I would have to pay someone to teach me. Fly fishing has cost me a lot of money not knowing what I'm doing, as far as equipment goes.

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You should be able to get 2hrs of instruction for $100 or so. Would be the best $100 you'd spend and the cheapest solution to your issues. A spey rod + line is going to run you $300 if you get an outrageous deal but probably closer to $500. If a single hand overhead cast is causing problems I'm guessing you'll find spey casting equally frustrating at best and you'll be in a similar boat (perhaps your elbow won't be sore but your face will be if you hook it).

The best reason to start spey casting is because you're fishing in situations where it's of benefit... namely limited space for overhead casting. Otherwise, once a fish is on the other end of your line it's generally more fun on a single hander. At least in my very limited experience.

I have my wife video me. I have gone thru a class, so I know how to cast correctly I just don't do it correctly. As a baseball player and throwing many pitches over 7 years it is very hard to not. 1 bend my elbow 2. Not follow through 3. Scratch my balls in between casts.

A trick that I found helpful was learn to cast with the "off" hand. This eliminates memory muscle. It forces you to concentrate on what you have been taught. Lock the wrist, start slow, stop & wait for the back cast to straighten, keep your arm in tight to the body, forward cast to a positive stop, follow through. All of that stuff you've been taught. The brain commands, the arm obeys the command because it knows no other way. Give it a try.

A trick that I found helpful was learn to cast with the "off" hand. This eliminates memory muscle. It forces you to concentrate on what you have been taught. Lock the wrist, start slow, stop & wait for the back cast to straighten, keep your arm in tight to the body, forward cast to a positive stop, follow through. All of that stuff you've been taught. The brain commands, the arm obeys the command because it knows no other way. Give it a try.

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Guess I don't know what the "off" hand is? Sorry for my lack of knowledge. Keeping the arm tight to the chest is one of the technics I have seen that feels like it will work for me.

If you cast with your left arm normally, your off hand would be your right.
If you cast with your right arm normally, your off hand would be your left.

Great point from the distinguished gentleman from the State of Jefferson above! Sometimes relearning on the other side of the body is better than retraining the side that has the muscle memory ingrained. A sports related right shoulder injury caused me to relearn a lot of things left handed. Possibly the most interesting thing that ever happended to me from a dexterity standpoint.

TK Ed. That's kinda what I thought it was but I was not sure. I will give it a try. I started batting switch when I about 15. I did not have as much power from the left side but the swing was good. Since you don't need power in fly casting it just may end up even better. If it works out I will have to learn how to change my reels around which shouldnt be all that hard.

Interesting... one of the most helpful threads I've encountered in a while. Perhaps when we take the fish out of things people seem to be better able to remain polite and respectful? At any rate, having had three cortisone shots in each elbow years ago, and experiencing the occasional "twinge;" my experience tracks with Salmo G's position on "decent" casting, and on the key role that good form/mechanics play in effective and pain-free casting that others have made. I've had far fewer elbow problems since picking up the two-hander several years ago, and the better my mechanics get, the farther, easier, and more pain free is my casting.

Interesting... one of the most helpful threads I've encountered in a while. Perhaps when we take the fish out of things people seem to be better able to remain polite and respectful? At any rate, having had three cortisone shots in each elbow years ago, and experiencing the occasional "twinge;" my experience tracks with Salmo G's position on "decent" casting, and on the key role that good form/mechanics play in effective and pain-free casting that others have made. I've had far fewer elbow problems since picking up the two-hander several years ago, and the better my mechanics get, the farther, easier, and more pain free is my casting.

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Dan you are way ahead of me in the shots in the elbow. I feel for you I know what the one that I had was like.
I came on this forum because I thought it would be like another forum that I was a major part of for 8 or 9 years. That was Jamslongboard.com. It was a place where newbies could ask questions about different types of long boards. I as an old time longboader I did all I could to give as much information to the new guys about the equipment and how use it. There are some real great guys on this forum, but I'm sure there are a lot more out there that just hang and try to get info on where to go get fish. If more people loosen up and just try and be helpful this could be a great place to learn what fly fishing is all about. On the Cut thread a guy had a nice pix of a hog on the deck of an alum boat. A guy told him it was not a good thing, but he did it nicely. This is how we new guys learn don't tear us a new one when we make a mistake. We are not trying to do things wrong at least I'm not anyway.

I see this threads last post was nearly a month ago but I'd like to ask Bagman if things have gotten better for him.

I am a bit of a newbie at tossing flies and am still spending more time in the water perfecting my form as opposed to catching fish! I'm pretty good at catching cutts on hardware but I'm trying to learn how to get 'em on a flyrod.

Fortunately I don't experience the physical problems that the Bagster does but I still get a bit frustrated when my cast devolves and the fly plops down about 15 feet in front of me with wind-knots in the line! I know it's my form (especially back-cast, I expect and maybe I'll buy a lesson or two) but I continue to work at it. Hopin' that Bagman is out there and nailin' some fish in our Kitsap area!!!

With the cold and tides not being the best I'm not in the water as much as I would like. I got a few hints from some of the guys and put my 8 wt away as well as not casting for 2 to 3 hrs trying to make sure I had a fly in the water when a Sliver swam by. With all of this the elbow does not hurt much. I have not been bring fish to hand but still having a good time. I've ordered a few new books and will read them to see if I can learn some good habits and break some bad once.

With the cold and tides not being the best I'm not in the water as much as I would like. I got a few hints from some of the guys and put my 8 wt away as well as not casting for 2 to 3 hrs trying to make sure I had a fly in the water when a Sliver swam by. With all of this the elbow does not hurt much. I have not been bring fish to hand but still having a good time. I've ordered a few new books and will read them to see if I can learn some good habits and break some bad once.

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I met up with Steve Saville week before last. He show me a few things about switch rod casting. I bought a 12 foot 5/6 wt switch rod and matched it up with one of the reels that I had some WF9F line on. Total cost less then $300. I have found the two hand casting to be much easier on my elbow. I'm still working on my single handed casting. I try and put in 20 to 30 min a day on the lawn. I have spent some time with a casting teacher who pointed out many of my bad habits. The Chum Fry are moving I'm going to scare some Sea Runs tomorrow morning.